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halestorm84 's review for:
Hollow City
by Ransom Riggs
I have to say, I think I enjoyed Hollow City more than I enjoyed Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I suppose a good deal of this is because I knew what I was getting into with Hollow City. Earlier this year when I read Miss Peregrine's I wasn't quite sure what I was in for, and when my preconceived notion didn't pan out, it (admittedly, unfairly) lost points for me. Here, I knew the lay of the land and the world about which I was reading.
On the flip side, I did have trouble getting this one started. It took about 1/4 of the book before I felt really invested in it, but shortly after that, I was off and running with it. Ransom Riggs did a nice job of keeping the pacing up, and only a few times did I feel like there was much lag in the story.
I will say that I felt some of the additions and subtractions of characters felt a little forced or out of place - almost like he thought "I don't want to write about her anymore, so I'll have to stay out of this adventure," but for all I know that's going to play an important part in Book 3. I also must admit that I'm still a little hazy on the rules regarding the Time Loops used in the story. Every so often the characters would do something with a Loop that I had previously thought wasn't allowed, but now was for some reason. Also in that vein, there were a few plot devices that I felt like were added to get the author out of a jam - not so much the characters. Some of them did eventually have a payoff (or at least an explanation) by the end of the book, but at the time it felt as though it was weak storytelling.
Despite those complaints, I zipped right through Hollow City and am actively anticipating the arrival of Book #3.
On the flip side, I did have trouble getting this one started. It took about 1/4 of the book before I felt really invested in it, but shortly after that, I was off and running with it. Ransom Riggs did a nice job of keeping the pacing up, and only a few times did I feel like there was much lag in the story.
I will say that I felt some of the additions and subtractions of characters felt a little forced or out of place - almost like he thought "I don't want to write about her anymore, so I'll have to stay out of this adventure," but for all I know that's going to play an important part in Book 3. I also must admit that I'm still a little hazy on the rules regarding the Time Loops used in the story. Every so often the characters would do something with a Loop that I had previously thought wasn't allowed, but now was for some reason. Also in that vein, there were a few plot devices that I felt like were added to get the author out of a jam - not so much the characters. Some of them did eventually have a payoff (or at least an explanation) by the end of the book, but at the time it felt as though it was weak storytelling.
Despite those complaints, I zipped right through Hollow City and am actively anticipating the arrival of Book #3.